How to Train Your Animatronic (FNaF 2)
by HowToTrainYourDragonStories
Summary: (Re-Uploaded) The security guard Jeremy always wanted to defeat at least one of the animatronics that are always causing havoc and destruction around the restaurant. His wish, however, was stopped by an animatronic different from the others. Jeremy trusted him, and with time, the animatronic worshipped him as his best friend.
1. Chapter 1

This is Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.

It's twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. The building… In a word? Sturdy. It's been here for seven years already but every single thing around is new. You can tell with ease. The cottages outside the huge garden are clean and organized, and the interior of the restaurant is as neat as if it was new.

As I'm working I hear screams, battle cries and the pounding of countless paws and metal just from the outside. I perfectly know what's happening out there, so my head doesn't have to struggle to figure it out. Here, we have cooking, cleaning, and a charming view of the sunsets if you sleep in the cottages. Of course, we have problems, and the only problems are the _problems_. You see, most restaurants have mice, or mosquitoes, and compared to what we have around here, those things would a dream becoming true for anyone who works here. But no. We have...

I open the door to see people in the night shouting, running, helping each other and such. Then I see a dark, hulking shape almost completely hidden in the darkness that just stopped its chase; the thing was closely following a group of guys. I see a gleam of white eyes and the shape of certain blocky teeth, and I know what's there. I slam the entrance door shut with my back hurriedly before the thing can see me and attack.

...animatronics.

The toy animatronics, the new ones that were supposed to be the friendliest things in the world, are malfunctioning. They think we are all criminals and try to kill us all. It's not their fault at all, however. It's just their AI.

The scene outside is a chaos. A living nightmare that will give you shivers. All I see is people running with faces of fear and anger, torches waving and even flying in the air after being thrown, and the sound of wood and several other materials being destroyed by huge metallic monsters. Most people would leave. Not us. We accepted this job and we are going to keep it, so we have stubbornness issues as you can tell.

I dash out the building. Mechanical snarls, roars, warbles and hisses meet my ears as I run and look at every direction to avoid getting caught or trip on something in my way. The fight around me is terrifying, and sometimes I just want to go home and forget everything. Fear takes over me, knowing that if an animatronic sees me will kill me in the split of a second.

My name's Jeremy. Great name, I know. But, it's not the worst. Some names around here are ridiculous, but I try not to say it in front of certain people. Another huge shape, almost identical to the one that saw me seconds ago, barrels by, close to me. Too close. It almost catches me as I'm running, and in an attempt to dodge it I fall on the rough ground. A man, running after whatever was about to hit me, almost lands on top of me. He screams with insanity in my face, then says a cheery "Mornin'!", and takes off again, searching for anything undesirable to fight off and protect the rest of employees.

We can't help but be crazy whenever the animatronics go outside and destroy everything and everyone. In fact, when these things are out here, we lose several workers almost every time, so the rational people around – a very small part of the employees – try to keep their sanity and stay calm.

I run as fast as I can up the walkway that leads to a hill where a stall I work on is placed. It's there so the animatronics can't reach out for it; they have enough people to kill down there. As I pass, employees that know me a little bit too well run past me carrying various things (barrels, weapons…), and as they rush down the walkway they yell at me.

"What're you doing here?" and "Get inside!" and "Jeremy, get back inside!" is all I hear from them. They are way too busy fighting off the animatronics that they cant's top and drag me back to the restaurant. I doubt they would do it if the animatronics weren't out, anyways.

I run into one of the streets at the end of the walkway, and see that an animatronic is walking towards me. Before I can move and get out of the way to prevent an attack, a huge hand grabs the back of my shirt and drags me out of the way, as a deep voice yells my name.

"What is _he_ doing out agai- _What are you doing out?_" the man that just grabbed me and probably just saved my life asks with anger. He shoves me towards the wooden walkway again, making me stumble, as he yells "Get inside!"

That's Raymond, owner of the restaurant. He's tall and vast, with a thick knotted beard of red hair, huge and powerful arms and green eyes full of fiery pride and overwhelming reliance. They say when he was a baby he popped an already forgotten animatronic's head clean off of its shoulders. I see Raymond picking up a wooden chair near him and throwing it with an angry grunt. The chair goes directly towards a passing animatronic, which I can notice is Toy Bonnie. It shatters against his tough body, and pieces of wood go flying on every direction. The blue bunny stumbles at the hit and hurries away.

Do I believe it? Yes I do. Who wouldn't?

Raymond turns to one of his fellow employees and asks him softly, "Are all the toy animatronics out?"

"Yes, they all are!" the man answers frantically, looking around in case one of the animatronics was going to focus its attention on them and attack. Raymond looks around too, before asking, "Did that _one_ appear_?__"_

"Not so far."

Toy Freddy barrels by, shattering a couple of chairs into pieces. One of the parts lands on Raymond's shoulder. He brushes it off like it was a simple leaf, muttering "Good."

I run past broken structures, people screaming and rope tripwires. I slow down as I finally see the stall, a sight that makes me happy. A man is working there, sweating like everyone does a summer afternoon. He's missing an arm, a leg and a few teeth, and all sorts of things replace his limbs at any given time. For example, a heavy hammer is placed on what once was his hand right now.

As I run past him, directing towards the weapons we have placed on a wall, he looks up at me and says jokingly, "Oh, nice of you to join the party! I thought you'd been carried off."

I struggle to pick up a hammer head and put it on its peg. "No, me? Nah, come on, I'm _way_ too muscular for their tastes. They wouldn't know what to do with all… _this__._" As I speak, I flex my invisible biceps, just trying to act the tough way. The working man grins as he disengages the hammer and replaces it with a black hook.

"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?" he mocks as I run towards the window to get everyone's weapons and tools. That's my work here at night. The meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands is Nick. I've been his apprentice every since I started working here.

He's blond and has an exaggeratedly long mustache. He says he wants it that long because it looks good on him, but I think it's ridiculous. He's a joker and always takes the most dangerous situations with unbeatable patience. Somewhat like me. That's why we understand each other pretty well.

Outside, I can hear Raymond's voice yelling, "We'll move to the lower defenses! We'll counterattack with the bola launchers!" Now that the guys hiding the views from the window are gone, I can see him and some employees running towards the bola launchers, and a small cottage being demolished as Toy Bonnie smashes right through it. See? Old restaurant, lots and lots of new things. It's the same cycle every time.

"_Fire!"_someone shouts, as he notices the cottage just started burning. It's then when I hear a young girl's voice yell, "All right, let's go!"

Five figures run past the window with water buckets and I watch them with curiosity and surprise. As the smoke clears out, I see them running away. That's Billy, Andrew, the twins, David and Jeanette, and...

Finally I have that loved opportunity to see her. The last person empties the bucket of water at the house. She elegantly turns around as the house explodes and baths her on reddish colors. A radiant smile grows on the girl's face as her blue eyes reflect her secure soul and her blond hair waves around.

..._Avery__._

You can't really be more perfect than Avery. She's everything: secure, optimistic, wants her job done perfectly… So many things I can't tell them all. She and the other guys run past my window again, rushing towards anywhere people need them. Oh, their job is so much cooler.

As I'm lost in thought, wondering how cool it would be to be out there and fight the animatronics, something grabs the back of my shirt and drags me back inside. "Oh, come on, let me out, please. I need to make my mark!" I tell Nick as he keeps me like three feet away from the floor.

He finally sets me down and gives me a prod with his hook thing, sending me a few steps back. "Oh, you've made _plenty_ of marks. All in the wrong places!" he argues.

"Please, two minutes. I'll fight an animatronic, my life will get _infinitely_better- I might even get a date." It's actually pointless to argue with Nick. Not only because I always tell him the same, but because he takes everything as a joke and doesn't really care about what I truly want.

He gives me a frown, stares at me before finally saying, "You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe- you can't even throw one of these!" He holds up a rope with iron attached to the ends. These bolas are used to catch any animatronic they are thrown at. Outside, someone snatches it out of Nick's hand like he was offering it.

Nick and I watch out the window as the man spins the bola around above his head and hurls it at Toy Bonnie with an angry grunt. It entangles the rabbit's legs and part of his body and makes him crash down to the ground.

"Okay, fine, but _this__-"_ I say reliantly, backing up right next to my perfect invention: a bola launcher made all by myself. Compared to the ones we have around, this is tiny and may look like a heap of wood, but it works perfectly. "-will throw it for me."

I pat the machine, but this makes out a bad-sounding squeal and it springs to life. It throws a bola directly at Nick. His eyes open wide as he sees the rope spinning towards his face, and he gets out of the way. The out of control weapon goes out the window and hits a guy right in the head. He falls backwards, a dazed expression on his face. Nick turns and advances on me, with that angry face I always hate seeing. "See? Now this right here is what I'm talking about!" he yells as I back away a little.

I start mumbling, and make out a disheartened, "But -mild calibration issues-"

"No, _Jeremy__,"_ Nick then cuts off firmly. "If you ever want to get out there, fight animatronics, you need to stop all... this." With both hands, he gestures at me, glancing at me like he thought I was crazy.

"You just gestured to _all_ of me." I say indignantly as I frown, extending my arms. Nick then says, "Yes, that's it! Stop being all of you!" with unfitting reliance.

I nod as I mutter, _"__Ooooh-__"_

He just imitates me, like the game he thinks life is. "Ooooh, yeah."

I start to get angered. Sometimes Nick's jokes just go out their railings. "You- you sir are playing a dangerous game- keeping this much _raw __fighter-ness __contained_- there will be consequences!" I proclaim as I wave my finger in his face to let him know perfectly that I'm pretty content with what I'm saying.

"I'll take my chances," Nick says dryly, eyes narrowed. He turns around and continues his work, like I never existed here and our words were never spoken. I sigh, frustrated, before blankly turning around and leaning into the window. I let the soft wind stroke my face and wave my hair. It's so relaxing. One day I'll get out there. I always have this thought in my head, and it will never go away.

I have a chance to see the animatronics' doings tonight. On the roofs of the cottages I see a particular yellow figure hopping from one to another. Fighting Toy Chica is sure to get me at least noticed. She is nimble and lighter than the rest, and very sneaky. She's balanced and graceful, like an actual bird – even though, without her beak, she doesn't look like one at all.

I hear deep raspy and mechanical vocalizing noises near the beakless and eyeless chicken. Toy Bonnie is tough, very tough. Taking him down would _definitely_ get me a girlfriend. His covering is like a rock armor, almost unbeatable. He's not as fast as Toy Chica, but he's still hard to catch, and he always manages to break the bolas.

I see an amount of smoke around a cottage, probably coming from the fire that started on another one of them. I see a strange figure hidden there. Unmistakable. Mangle? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status. Yes, two heads. Sounds crazy, but that's what Mangle is: crazy. Both heads are independent and their elongated necks are flexible. It's definitely the weirdest thing anyone has ever seen, and dangerous too.

I see something moving around the bola launchers with great stealth. Raymond knows that something is near him and his men. Then, there's Toy Freddy. Only the best and veteran employees try and go after him. He has this... nasty habit of stalking you. I watch with wide eyes as Toy Freddy bursts through the wooden walkway that leads to the bola launcher. Raymond looks at his glossy black eyes, muttering, "I'll take care of this."

He spins his hammer around, and greets the bear with two hard hits on either side of his head. Toy Freddy growls disdainfully and tries to bite the hammer out of Raymond's hand, when a sound distracts him and makes him go away.

My eyes widen even more when I hear that damned sound. I look all around, focusing on the dark environment. Everyone knows this sound. A faint, low and smooth whine. It's quiet at a beginning, but then it rises all around until its deafening. Now, the ultimate prize is the animatronic no one's ever seen. The piercing whine is _truly _deafening at this point. It gets closer. And closer. We call that thing the-

"Puppet!" someone atop of the bola launcher's towers yells out.

"Get down!" another man follows the warn. The employees gasp and crouch and take cover, as the subsonic whine becomes glitchy as it nears. One of the bola launchers shatters into lots of tiny pieces of broken wood, like an explosion just hit it with perfect accuracy. I can hear something fast swooping through the flying wood, but it's just a black blur what I get to see.

"_Jump!"_ Raymond yells as the wood, converted into dangerously sharp stakes, rushes down towards the ground from high upon the sky where pieces have been thrown. This thing never steals anything, never shows itself, and-

The poor and broken remains of the weapon go flying again as the thing smashes through it once more at an outstanding speed.

-never misses.


	2. Chapter 2

I watch everything with fear, but I'm impressed and secure too. No one has ever fought the Puppet. That's why I'm gonna be the first. Now, everyone failed on trying to take down that thing, and I fail on everything I do. Why would I success? Because I've got a soul of steel and an ambitious desire to do what I couldn't do before.

But if by some strange reason I manage to shoot it down, what could happen? The rumors people tell about the Puppet are terrifying. It's told to be completely black, as it is never seen when it destroys something yet it goes right past people. It's also rumored to be the strongest and the biggest out of all the animatronics, but I dismiss this fact. That Puppet thing would need to have Toy Chica's grace, Toy Bonnie's reflexes and Toy Freddy's stealth to go completely unnoticed.

As I think on how I might take down that creature of the shadows, I walk back into the stall, where I see Nick replacing his hook with an axe. He throws the hook before looking at me and firmly saying, "Man the fort, Jeremy. They need _me_ out there."

He stops at the door with inner hesitation and turns around, one finger pointed at me. "Stay… Put… there." He stutters. I look innocent, to make him believe that I'm truly going to stay here – thing I'm not going to do at all.

"You know what I mean." Nick then lifts up his hand-axe as he yells a battle cry, right before rushing towards the battle. When I'm sure he's gone and focused on something more important than me, I grab the bola launcher and run all across the demolished garden. I dodge fallen trees, pieces of wood and metal, running people and passing animatronics. I hear the yells of people waiting for me at the stall so I can repair their weapons.

I yell "Be right back!" over my shoulder and keep going, as I'm not going to stop for that. I run past Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica and Mangle as they surround a group of guys with no weapon in hand, readying for the easy kill. Raymond appears with a huge net in hand, and throws it at the three animatronics with an angered grunt. Toy Bonnie makes those mechanical vocalizing noises and Toy Chica hisses and warbles, meanwhile Mangle tries to chew through the ropes. Raymond, aware of the creature's action, clamps its mouth shut as he fierily yells, _"Mind yourself! The devils still have some juice in 'em!"_

Everyone is busy. Raymond and Nick, with the assistance of various other people, help to hold the net so the three angry animatronics can't escape. Others are trying to find Toy Freddy. And the rest are extinguishing fire and repairing things now that the cost is almost clear. I rush towards a cliff and quickly set up my machine, going by completely unnoticed.

I look attentively at the surroundings. Nothing out of normal, just the usual: a starry and clear sky, demolished bola launchers and a cliff near the faint woods. It's dark, silent, and I feel a shiver run down my body. Then I hear a faint sound. It's a smooth pounding in the ground. And a whine. _That _whine. It's far away, but it nears.

I spot a shadow running through the trees, jumping and increasing and decreasing speed erratically. It's a tall shape, fast and graceful. The whine pitches up as the figure disappears between some larger trees that rise upon the others, and the pounding becomes frantic as the thing nears.

I take aim and look at the already destroyed bola launcher. Something I can easily tell is the Puppet, judging by the speed and, most of all, the subsonic whine, smashes and shatters the remains of the weapon and hurries back to the somber forest. I close my eyes and pray for the bola to hit something as I fire, and right then the recoil sends me flying. I land on my back and look up. I hear an ear-piercing and pained scream, as a shadow falls down the cliff.

"Oh, I hit it." I mutter, briefly nodding, trying to figure out what I have just done. "Yes I hit it!" I yell triumphantly after knowing that I just did the unthinkable, what no one ever did. I shot down the Puppet. "Did _anybody_ see that?" I ask cheerily as I turn around. No one, but I hear footsteps coming closer and a brief snarl. I turn around and catch sight of Toy Freddy, with eyes pitch black ant pinprick sized white pupils staring coldly at me.

"...Except for you."

Toy Freddy straightens up and lunges, and I start running wildly all across the building's surroundings. I can hear Toy Freddy's steady footsteps coming closer to me, and I'm pretty sure he's picturing how he rips me apart right now. I run behind a wooden pole and cringe, as Toy Freddy gives it a hard hit. It trembles and I wince, but fortunately the pole resists the smash. Any sound clears out and there's silence. People are managing to take control of the animatronics, so everything is quieter than before.

I peek around the edge of the pole as I pray the Gods to see that Toy Freddy is getting away, but he's not there. I can't see him, but I can hear him opening his squeaky jaw right behind me. I want to turn around, scream, and run away once more, but a man grabs the mechanical bear's snout and pushes him away.

I watch hungrily as Raymond puts himself in a defensive position meanwhile Toy Freddy snarls at him. Raymond slowly runs towards the animatronic and hits him with bare hands once. Then twice. Then a kick. Toy Freddy directs an electronic roar at Raymond before walking off, inside the restaurant, back to his spot.

Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know.

The other men have gathered around us and are looking at me expectantly. The pole snaps in two and topples over, and I can see it almost crushing a man who's not paying attention. The pole demolishes a bridge and rolls down the walkway, pushing people away and breaking several things. I wince at each crack and scream I hear.

"Sorry... Dad." I apologize, not looking at Raymond's furious eyes. I keep on watching the rampant pole bounce down the walkway and cut off the net that held the other three animatronics, who dash inside the building. It's hard to believe that someone as Raymond can be my father. He's proud, strong and loved by everyone. I'm tiny, weak and mostly the make-me-laugh.

I then mumble quickly, "Okay, but I hit the Puppet." I don't have the chance to be actually listened before Raymond's hand grabs my shirt and drags me back. I'm aware that everyone is watching me, taunting me, not knowing what I had just done. I forcefully follow my father as his furious steps hit the ground, while I'm losing my footing.

"_D'ooooh__-_it's not like the last few times, dad, I mean I really actually hit it!" I protest, trying so hard to be noticed, but knowing I will fail at it. We walk past Nick, who gives me this look like he thinks I'm crazy but at the same time he feels bad, as I say, "You guys were busy and I had a _very_ clear shot- it went down, just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there before it-"

Dad turns around, pushing me back a little, as he yells,_ "__STOP!_" angrily. "Just ..._stop. _Every time you step outside, _disaster_ falls. Can you not _see_ I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an _entire_ crew of employees to take care of!"

I don't think just only one person has to take care of around fifty tough guys, so without thinking I counter back, "Yeah between you and me the guys can defend themselves, don't you think?" Some persons behind me gasp, some other mumble, and the rest stay silent.

"This isn't a _joke,_ Jeremy!" Dad shouts, eyes wide. "Why can't you follow the simplest _orders_?" he growls, giving me an almost desperate look.

"I- I can't stop myself! I see an animatronic and I have to just… _fight__ it__,_ you know? It's… who I am, dad."

Dad rubs his forehead disdainfully like he's trying to fend off a headache. "Oh, you're… many things, Jeremy. But a someone who can fight the animatronics is not one of them," he says softly, apparently calmed down. "Get back to the house." He finishes as I roll my eyes. It's always the same. I say something, no one believes me, and I have to go back home with dejection.

Raymond walks up to Nick and tells him, "Make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up." Nick gives me a smack on the back of the head as he approaches me, and I slowly walk back home with nothing else to say. I did what no one did and this is my reward. How nice.

A cackle meets my ears, and I know that it's now time for the mocks. "Quite the performance," David teases with one of his huge, toothy grins.

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly," William joins the derision."That _helped!"_

"Thank you, thank you, I was trying," I deadpan, not looking any single time at them. After a few seconds I hear William yell and fall to the ground, probably because Nick knocked him over.

* * *

><p>"I <em>really did<em> hit it." I tell Nick softly and kindly for the fifth time already, walking up the hill that leads to my house.

"Sure, Jeremy." Nick mutters with monotone voice. He's been talking like that all the way here.

"He _never listens__._"

"Oh, it runs in the family."

"And when he does it's always with this… disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat on his sandwich." I stop on the step and turn to Nick as I imitate my dad's voice, or try to. "_Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms, extra guts, and glory on the side! This here, this is a talking fishbone!"_

Nick smiles, then explains, "Now, you're thinkin' about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like, it's what's _inside_ that he can't stand!"

Of course, there goes one of Nick's splendorous cheer-ups. "Thank you for summing that up," I mutter arrogantly as I turn to the door and open it, but I just barely reach the knob when I hear Nick say softly, "Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're _not."_

"I just wanna be one of you guys." I say, and towards the end of my words my voice cracks. I hurry inside, now noticing that my inner indignation is coming out of me. I hear Nick's footsteps, and when I'm sure he's gone, I grab a dagger, a pencil and a notebook and get out from the back door. It's time to prove myself.

* * *

><p>My feet are aching, as I've been hours searching for that damned thing I shot down. I've been searching since early in the morning and now it's almost midday.<p>

I glare down at my sketchbook and the map of the area I'd drawn. Black X's cover the page, and all those are the places I've been searching to see if the Puppet ended up there. Still, it's nowhere to be found. I take sight of a place I still haven't checked on, and it could be what I've been searching for. I close my eyes, open them-

Nothing.

My arms fall limply as I sight quietly and keep walking. I draw a new X, but my anger comes out and I scrabble all over the page. Abruptly, I put the pencil in the middle of the notebook and close it shut.

"Oh, the gods hate me." I mutter, kicking a stone out of the way. Some people lose their _knife_ in the _mud-_ no, not me! I managed to lose an _entire animatronic-"_

I see that a pine branch is in my way, and I angrily swat it away. I even feel pain in my hand, but I brush if off. But then, the branch comes right back around and whips me in the face, hard.

"_OW!"_

I clutch my eye as pain shoots through it. I glance at the tree- and I freeze.

It's ripped in half.

It makes its way down the hill. There are claw marks over it, and in the ground and the rocks too. Under and next to the tree is a medium-sized muddy trough, ending on a small bluff. I scramble down, carefully and attentively. I observe the claw marks. They're long, and whatever made them was frantic.

I peek over the cliff where the trough ends, and for a moment I see something black in the ground before my reflections tell me to crouch, as I gasp loudly. I slowly peek over the edge again, eyes wide to make sure nothing's moving. A black thing is lying there, bounded and unmoving. It's partially hidden by a white boulder sticking out of the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

Nervously, I search through my coat until my hand reaches across the knife. It almost slips off my hands as I hold it in front of me and observe what's hidden behind the boulder. I take a couple of steady, secure breaths before banking down the small cliff and hide behind the boulder, almost falling out of nervousness and fear.

I peek ever so carefully around the boulder, expecting to hear something menacing, but there's silence. I finally get a chance to see the Puppet. I'm the first one to do so. And it feels great.

As I had imagined, it's not the largest animatronic, that's the first thing I notice upon close sight. The Puppet has a white face, which is similar to that of a Pierrot, with rosy red cheeks, purple stripes that stretch from the bottom of its closed eyes to the top of its mouth and red lips painted on in an exaggerated pucker. Its body is somewhat reminiscent of a sock monkey's, with its round, oblong shape, thin waist, white buttons, rounded hands that feature three spindly fingers each – fingers that look like claws, and white stripes on the wrists and ankles. Something we got right was its jet-black color. The Puppet has no feet at all, and neither has hair nor head accessories. It's also quite lanky.

"Oh, wow…" I mutter. "I- I- I _did_ it." No sound yet. This thing is motionless. "Oh, I did it, this- this fixes everything! _Yes!_" I approach the Puppet more and more as I speak. "I have brought down this mighty beas- _waah!"_

The Puppet comes to life with a croaky hum-hiss noise. I titter back into the boulder as my breathing becomes fast and nervous. Fortunately, the Puppet does not spring up and try to attack. Instead it just lies there and breathes heavily. Its arms rise and fall with each shaky and pained breath it takes. I approach slowly, with the knife in front of me just in case I need its protection. It's then when the Puppet opens its eye. And looks _right _at me.

The Puppet has black eyes. The white pupil is dilated to a tiny slit that very slightly becomes thinner erratically as it stares at my eyes. Something about the intensity of its stare makes me ashamed to look back, and it's… expressing something. Fear. That's it. It's afraid. And it has reasons. It's bounded on a bola, wounded and I'm armed with a knife.

I start to steady my breath, faster and more angered each time. I point the knife at the thing again with security as I mutter menacingly, "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to- I'm going to show you to my father." I close my eyes and straighten up as I try to get a good hold of the blade's hilt.

"I am a night guard." I say to myself as I remember how nobody cares about what's my real job. I help Nick in the stall, but I'm still a night guard. And night guards are the ones who don't fear the animatronics. I know for sure I'm one of those. I open my eyes as I yell, "_I am a night guard!__"_

The Puppet is still looking at me. I concentrate on my desire to free the restaurant of this mindless creature. Of this killer. Of this bloodthirsty monster that has been terrorizing us for so long. As I hold my knife above my head, I open my eyes and see that the Puppet's expression changed. Now it's not just scared, it's pleading. Its eyes have widened in terror. Mine widen as well, with sadness, with shame. But no- why should I feel bad for something who has tried to kill us all? I shake my head and close my eyes again, holding up the knife again. The Puppet wails one last time in defeat and lets its head drop to the ground. It's giving up to its fate.

I try and try to pull the blade down, but something won't let me. My arms fall to my head, as with one hand I put the knife down and with the other I rub my face. I look sadly at the Puppet, still breathing, still wounded, still waiting for me to kill it.

"I did this," I mutter, ashamed. I turn back and I'm about to leave the Puppet here on its own. But something stops me. I can't let it here. Whatever happens to it will be my fault. I don't care if nobody knows it later on. I will know it and I will feel saddened for the rest of my life. I sigh as I look away, closing my eyes. I make the decision of freeing the Puppet. After its unbounded I will run away and act as this never happened.

I start to cut off the ropes, nervously, as I want this to end as soon as possible. As I'm sawing a fourth rope, the Puppet suddenly jumps to its feet, and gives me the second to realize how tall it is. I gasp and flinch away. I accidentally throw myself backwards in fear, and I'm about to rush away as fast as my legs can drive me until three midnight spindly fingers slam into my chest and pin me against a boulder. I feel those razor sharp claws digging into my neck, making me almost impossible to breathe. I gasp in terror as I look up, and my gaze meets a pair of angry eyes staring coldly at me.

Those before terrified and pleading slits have transformed into shiny dots that stare into my soul. In those eyes is reflected all this creature's anger and desire to kill. I search for mercy into those nightmare pupils, but all I see is myself being killed. The Puppet straightens up, and I can hear a low hiss coming from it as its white pupils turn fine slits.

I close my eyes when I see it about to attack, but all I hear is a deep, loud and furious hum. I reluctantly open my frightened eyes and see the Puppet running away into the ghostly grey fog. It crashes into a rock wall, stumbling and tripping over itself like it was dazed.

My body falls limp as I huff. My fingers touch the blade's hilt, and I pick it up as I slowly get to my feet. I can still see the Puppet disappearing into the mist, hissing its anger at the forest. I turn slowly and start walking home, breathing so hard I can barely do so. With a shaky mumble, I collapse.

* * *

><p>It got dark as I arrived home. After gaining back consciousness I wandered aimlessly through the woods, wondering why the Puppet spared me when I shot it down and tried to kill it. As I approach my house, I see the lights on, and that only tells me dad's home. I stop a few meters away from the house, hold my breath for a moment. I know I'm going to have a long, long dad-to-son talk. I sigh and almost hesitantly open the door<p>

Sure enough, Raymond's there, sitting on a seat near the warm smokestack. I don't want to talk to him, and I prefer to avoid him. I can easily tell he hasn't spotted me yet, so I hurry upstairs.

"Jeremy," Dad mutters, stopping my way. I almost manage to avoid him.

"Dad…!" I say quickly as I stop and go down the stairs again. "Uh… I, uh… I need to talk to you…"

"I need to speak to you too, son" he says firmly, standing up. He joins both hands together, and I know this is going to be a long chatter. We both take a deep breath, Raymond's longer and deeper than mine.

When we decide to talk, we do it at the same time, forming a senseless sentence. "I've decided I don't want to fight I want you to learn to fight animatronics." Having noticed the mess of words we made out, we ask at each other, "What?" in the same tone, frowning, confusion flowing through the word.

Dad takes a deep breath. "You go first".

"No, no _you_ go first" I insist, knowing that whatever he has to say will most likely be more important that what's around my mind.

"Alright. You get your wish. Animatronic Training. You start in the morning".

Oh, great. Exactly what I needed. More angry robots to deal with. This is exactly the contrary of what I was thinking about. I wanted to tell him that I'm a coward, that I don't want to fight animatronics anymore and that I don't want to join the arena.

"Oh man, I should've gone first." I stutter. "Because… you know… we have a surplus of… animatronic-fighting night guards, but… do we have enough… _bread_-making people? Or… small home repair-"

"You'll need this," dad cuts off with an almost unnoticeable grunt as he picks up an axe and handles it to me. I barely catch it on both hands, and the thing could have knocked me to the floor.

"I don't wanna fight animatronics." I tell him almost desperately, kind of scared if I say so. After my first and probably last encounter with the Puppet I don't want to know anything more about these robots for a long time. I have to convince my father to not make me join the Animatronic Training arena. Even if I have to make a stupidity. That animatronic basically changed my life. In a normal circumstance I would be yelling and jumping up and down with joy after hearing that dad let me in the arena, but this is not the case anymore.

Raymond laughs. "Oh come on. Yes you do!" Oh, here we go. Don't listen to your son, do what you have in mind and ignore his ideas. Always. _Always _this way.

"Dad, rephrase: I _can't _fight animatronics."

"But you _will _fight animatronics!" Dad keeps insisting. Said this he walks away and I follow him, wobbling a little because of the axe's weigh.

"No, I'm really-extra-sure that I won't!" I keep trying, even knowing it might just be useless.

"It's time, Jeremy." Raymond's calm voice turns deep, firm. The happy thing ended, and it's now time for the dad-to-son talk to begin. "When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you." dad says as he starts correcting my posture. He straightens me up and I somehow manage to get a better hold of the heavy weapon. "That means you walk like us. You talk like us. You _think_, like us. No more of… this." he completes this as he, once again, points at me completely. Do people _always _have to do that? I'm not a 'this'.

"You just gestured to all of me…" I deadpan, rolling my eyes.

"Deal?" Raymond asks.

"This conversation is feeling really one-sided-"

Before I can continue, dad's voice straightens up and holds power like a king. "_Deal_?" he repeats, louder, telling me that my only answer is 'deal'.

I sigh in frustration. "Deal…"

"Good. Train hard, I'll be back. Probably." Dad grabs a big basket, puts it on his back and goes towards the door.

"And I'll be here. Maybe…" I manage to mutter before the door closes shut in front of me. Of course, everything went wrong again.

* * *

><p>"Welcome to Animatronic Training!" I badly hear Nick's faint voice as he opens the gate. I'm the last one to enter, as all the others are gathered around. They will start their usual senseless mocks as soon as they see me, so I wait until they're more focused on the arena. It's placed on another hill, out of reach for random people going around. The inside is a big and round circle, with a floor made out of wet, slippery concrete. Above the ground there are metal wires covering the whole arena. Outside, there are stands all over, protected by metal fences. In front of us there are various metal doors which are being slammed over and over again.<p>

"No turning back," I hear Astrid mutter.

"I hope I get some serious wounds!" David, as tough and mindless as always, says reliantly. It doesn't surprise me, he always says things like that. The twins just _want _to get hurt. And no better place to get hurt than Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.

"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back." David's same mindless sister, Jeanette, adds.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." Avery finally agrees. I don't know why they insist so much on getting hurt. The day they find themselves about to die at the hands of an angry animatronic, they will think better about it.

"Yeah, no kidding right?" I mutter dryly, finally convincing myself to enter. I could have just gotten away. The guys turn at me and give me those teasing looks. "Pain. Love it…"

"Oh great. Who let him in?" David protests, his shoulders falling limply. His toothy grin transforms into a mocking grimace.

"Let's get started!" Nick yells. Apparently he stopped any other teasing from the twins, and in my mind I'm thanking him for that. "The one who does his best will have the honor of fighting Toy Freddy in front of the entire staff!" Another great thing. Fortunately, I won't have to do that craziness; not even in a dream – or in this case, nightmare – I'm getting first in Animatronic Training.

"Jeremy already shot down the Puppet," William's voice joins in to ruin everything. "So does that disqualify him or…" Everyone but Avery chuckles, even Billy. He's the brains of the group and almost never teases me, but this time he seems to have joined the Train of the Idiots. "Can I transfer to the class with the cool people?" I can still hear William's voice as he walks away.

Nick walks over me and wraps his arm around me. Please, no more cheer-ups… "Don't worry. You're small and weak. That'll make you less of a target. The animatronics will see you as a minor problem and go after the more strong-like guys instead." Nick chuckles softly and pats my shoulder before shoving me to the line where the others are. He walks in front of us, and shows us these huge, metallic and highly protected doors. "Behind these doors are the toy animatronics you will learn to fight". He starts pointing at each of the doors, which are still being slammed once and once again.

Nick points at the first door. "Toy Chica,"

"Speed plus eight." Billy points out, making his knowledge that nobody but him cares about be seen.

"Mangle,"

"Plus eleven stealth times two." Billy continues, more and more excited. His eyes narrow reliantly and his tiny legs are starting to tremble.

"Toy Freddy," Nick adds a special fiery tone to his name, as Toy Freddy is the most dangerous toy animatronic – after the Puppet. Nobody but me knows that, anyways.

"Speed fifteen!" Billy still continues, shaking more and more, and I can even tell he's sweating out of nervousness.

"Balloon Boy,"

"Attack eight, speed twelve!" This time Billy comes out of his railings and his smile becomes wide enough to reach either side of his chubby face.

"Will you stop that?!" Nick shouts in annoyance. Finally, it was time for someone to shut him up or either I was going to give him a smack in the shoulder. I decided not to do it because, one, Billy is a crybaby, and two, because the mocks will start over.

"And… Toy Bonnie." Nick finishes, placing his hand over a lever next to the door. Please tell me he's not going to open it… Having in mind how crazy Nick can be, however, I really think he's going to open it.

"Strength times eight." Fishlegs whispers to me at the corner of his mouth.

"Woah wait! Aren't you going to teach us first?!" William suddenly shouts worriedly, also noticing Nick's insane intentions. He just smiles, not caring about our scared looks. But Avery is not worried, so I grit my teeth and try to hide my fear. I had encountered and angry Puppet and lived from its mercy, and now I have to fend off a very angry and out of control bunny. At least we don't have to go against the original Bonnie; now _that _would be crazy. After having in mind how brutal the old animatronics are, I start to think in a positive way about the toy animatronics.

"I believe on learning on the job". Said this, Nick pulls down the lever.


	4. Chapter 4

The instant moment the lever is pulled down, the metal doors burst open, revealing a very angry-looking Toy Bonnie. We glance around nervously before running away to wherever our panicking legs drive us.

"Today is all about survival!" Nick shouts. I can see Toy Bonnie is so angered yet so excited to be outside that on his way he bounces over a wall. It may have been because of the slippery floor, too. Not like I care so much. Not harmed by the hit, anyways, the blue animatronic proceeds to look for a foe. "If you get caught, you're dead!" I can hear Nick comment. Oh gosh, that's sarcasm, right? I hope so. I really don't want to be killed on my first day here.

"Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?" Nick questions us quickly.

"A doctor?" is the first thing that pops up in my head, and I was going to not say it, but the words escaped from my mouth before I could think again.

"Plus-five speed?" Billy suggests.

"A shield." Avery says calmly, prepared to rush towards the shields placed all over, probably by Nick.

"Shields! Go!" he confirms. All of us begin to run towards the shields. I focus my attention in one in the middle of the arena and run towards it as I hear Nick yell, "If you have a choice between a sword and a shield, take the shield!"

I run through the arena, now with the shield I wanted right below my feet. I try to pick it up, but my axe makes it more difficult. I didn't even think of leaving it on the ground, and I was about to do so when Nick comes by, helps me pick up the shield, and shoves me back to the center of the arena abruptly. As I run around, trying to evade eye contact with Toy Bonnie, I see the twins fighting over a shield.

"There's like… a million shields!" Jeanette points out in annoyance, trying to snatch out the shield from her brother's hands.

"Take that one, it has flowers, girls like flowers." David jeers, grinning, and momentarily stopping focusing on the shield. Taking advantage of that, Jeanette snatches out the shield and hits her brother right on the head instead of just taking it.

"Oops." she says without even meaning it. "Now this one has blood on it". David gets up like nothing and continues the equal-labeled tug of war. Apparently the fuss they're making catches Toy Bonnie's attention, as he moves his manic gaze to them. In the split of a second he's charging towards the twins, and with a hard hit, he smashes through the shield, shattering it into pieces and sending the twins flying.

"David, Jeanette, you're out!" Nick points out. Now I get the meaning of 'if you get caught, you're dead'. Fortunately it wasn't serious. But a smash like that will surely hurt, so I'll better stay away from this crazy robot.

"What?" both twins ask, stunned, dazed and pained looks on their faces. Seeing that we haven't got a plan to fight, Nick gives us a clue, "Shields are good for another thing; noise! Make lots of it to throw off an animatronic's aim!" Avery, Billy and Andrew already started to bang their shields with their weapons, so I just copy them. We walk in circles around Toy Bonnie, who begins to look dazed. His irises become bigger and smaller erratically, his ears buzz. In just a moment, the guys stop with the irritating noise and run around the animatronic, who seems to get back focus.

"I really don't think my parents would-" I hear Billy start. I turn to him, right then, being able to see Toy Bonnie smashing his shield, which he had just lifted up in the air. As wide as Billy is, I have no idea of why this animatronic didn't just hit him instead.

"Billy, out!"

Billy starts running like crazy, arms up, screaming atop of his lungs. Don't wanting to get hurt, I hide behind a wooden rack. However, Nick must have seen me, because I hear him yell, "Jeremy, get in there!"

I try to get out, crouching and walking slowly, shield in front of my face for protection, but a piece of wood – probably coming from Billy's shield – shatters after hitting the wall, pretty near to me. Was I really coming out? Not even in a nightmare. Better when this crazy robot focuses on someone else. Meanwhile, I see Andrew walking over to Avery, looking with pure security and reliance at front.

"So, anyway…" he starts. "I'm moving to my parent's basement. You should come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out!" As he speaks, I see Toy Bonnie charging at them. Avery quickly gets out of the way, Andrew's flirting eyes following her. He shuts up immediately when Toy Bonnie smashes his shield and knocks him to the ground.

"Andrew, you're done!" Nick announces.

I finally decide to go out, and as I do so, Avery cartwheels next to me.

"So… I guess it's just you and me, huh?" I tell her with an insecure smirk growing on my face. Her eyes suddenly widen.

"Nope, just you!" With that, she runs away. As soon as I look at front, curious, I see Toy Bonnie right in front of me. He knocks off my shield, throwing me to the ground, but fortunately it didn't break it as I was fast enough to get out of the way. The shield goes spinning around the arena, and for measure of protection, I try to reach for it.

"Jeremy!" I hear Nick yell worriedly. I know why as soon as I look over my shoulders; the animatronic is right behind me. I almost reach out for the shield, but I'm not able to grab it on time as it spins away. Just a few seconds later, I'm against the wall, and Toy Bonnie in front of me.

All of a sudden, a flashback of my terrifying encounter with the Puppet flashes through my head. There's only one difference in here; this animatronic isn't about to spare me. I close my eyes and tense as I barely see Toy Bonnie straighten up, ready to attack. Right then, Nick's hook gets in the middle and pulls away the animatronic, grabbing him by the corner of his mouth. Nick advances to the door.

"Go back to bed, ya overgrown bunny!" he yells as he throws Toy Bonnie, trying to fight back, back to the enclosure. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry." Nick tells us, closing the door.

"And remember. An animatronic will always…" he looks intimidatingly at me, telling me with his expression that I _have _to pay attention and never mess up here, otherwise I would end up dead. "…_always,_ go for the kill."

He grabs my arm and pulls me up. He goes away, the rest of the guys following him, giving me mocking glares. I steady my breath, but then I realize. Something is wrong about what Nick said.

* * *

><p>"So why didn't you?" I ask myself as I pick up the bola I left on the woods. Even though the sun cannot be seen due to these common storm clouds, I still returned here, not caring if it would rain or not. I need answers, though I'm not sure if I will ever get them. I walk towards the direction the Puppet took, just in case I could see it again. Behind the bushes there's a rocky, small cave. I make my way through boulders, pass below a root in the way. It's the entrance to a huge, beautiful cove. It's a big and round forest-like place. There's a lake of clear water in the middle of it, and several trees around. There are some boulders on random parts. Some singing birds fly around, welcoming my sight, but the Puppet is not here.<p>

"Well, this was stupid." I mutter. Before making my way back to the restaurant, though, something catches my attention. In one of the rocks near the cove's entrance there are some black, flat stone-like ovals. I pick one up and take a good look to it. I wonder what it can be.

I poke the piece, and all of a sudden, something flashes right in front of me. I jump back with a gasp, throwing myself backwards. I hear a grunt and stones falling, and look up just to see that the Puppet is trying to climb up the boulder just mere feet away from me. Apparently, it's desperately trying to get out of the cove, but failing at it. I see the effort it makes to climb up the declivitous stone walls. The Puppet begins to slide down, those claws preventing a rough fall. After it's again on the grassy floor below me, I jump from rock to rock to see a closer view of it. It's so… amazing. Amazing to the point that I have to get my sketchbook out.

The Puppet uses a rock to boost itself up. Using those sharp fingers, it tries to climb up another rock wall, but slips off again. It ends up in a perfect angle for me to draw. The sketch I made looks good. The first one to draw the Puppet, and it turns out being me. After I'm done drawing, the Puppet tires to climb another rock wall, but falls off yet again.

"Why don't you just… go away?" I ask myself.

The Puppet tries to get out once again. This time, the fall is tough. It looks tired for a moment, and I can easily tell it had been the whole day trying to get out. The claw marks on the enormous boulders are all over. Exhausted, the Puppet stops trying to get out and rests under the shade of the tree leaves. I look a bit closer, but my pencil suddenly slips off my hands. With a gasp, my nervous fingers try to get it back before it's too late, but it ends up falling down. With a fidgety, "Uh…" I look at the Puppet.

The pencil makes an echoing noise as it hits the rocks. For my horror, the Puppet looks at my direction. But it's not looking at me with disdain and there's no aggressivity on its eyes. It looks more at me with curiosity, without showing any signals of anger. How could this be? I shot it down and tried to kill it, yet it doesn't try to attack me. Astonished, I slightly tilt my head, thing it mirrors with a curious hiss.


	5. Chapter 5

After having left the woods, I got home for a while, readying for our usual reunion at the dining area, thing I learnt after asking Nick what was next. I look up at the darkened sky as I move towards the restaurant, and easily notice a storm is coming. As I enter and pick up my dinner, I hear Nick and my class. I look up. They're sitting on a table, talking about their day at the ring. Definitely they don't care about me, otherwise they would have waited for me.

"Alright, where did Avery go wrong in the ring today?" I hear Nick ask in general.

"I mistimed my somersault dive." Avery replies, head down, sounding completely concentrated on something. "It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse stumble."

"Yeah, we noticed." Jeanette jeers.

"No, no, you were great!" William tries to make Avery change her opinion, or most likely trying get her attention. He always fails at it anyways. I walk towards them, slower each step. I know it. As soon as Nick spots me, he will ask where I went wrong today. "That was so… Avery." William concludes, forcing a fascinated tone.

"She's right, you have to be tough on yourselves." Nick agrees with Avery. "Where did Jeremy go wrong today?" I finally hear his undesired question. William reacts by looking directly at me, a huge grin on his face.

"Uh, he showed up?" Jeanette teases.

"He didn't get hurt." David replies. As he says so, I pick up my drink from the table. As I lean to grab it, William moves to the side, hiding the only empty spot.

"He's _never _where he should be." Avery says with monotone voice, as I sit on the other table, alone, plunged on my own thoughts.

"Thank you, Avery." Nick says, standing up. "You need to live and breathe this stuff." He drops a dark red book on the table where the others are sitting on. "The Animatronic Manual. Everything we know about every animatronic we know of."

Everything we know about the animatronics is in that book? That just gave me an idea. Maybe, just maybe, there's some extra information about the Puppet there. A roll of thunder is heard from the outside, announcing that the incoming storm has just triggered. Nick looks up with narrowed eyes, listening carefully to the rain drops. "No attacks tonight. Read up." he says as he walks away. A storm outside means that the animatronics won't get out. Today is Sunday, anyways. Closed restaurant, offline animatronics.

"Wait, read?" shocked, David asks as his eyes widen.

"While we're still alive?" his sister adds in the same tone.

"Why read words about stuff when you can fight the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" William manages to make out an almost senseless sentence.

"Oh, oh, I've read it like, seven times!" Billy burst out in excitement. He was probably waiting for Nick to release the book, as I have seen him slightly shaking all this little while I've been here. "There's this one that charges at you, and there's this other one-"

"Yeah, that sounds great." David cuts off, making a 'shut-your-mouth' gesture with his hand. "There was a chance that I was going to read that…"

"But… now…?" Jeanette completes. These guys are so excited to become great fighters that they don't seem to care on learning the basic things. I'd prefer to read this whole book rather than being killed in the arena.

"You guys read, I'll go fight stuff." David says as he stands up, making everyone but Avery follow and leave.

"So, I guess we'll share-" I say as I walk next to Avery, who pushes the book towards me with a, "Read it." full of disdain and annoyance. She stands up, follows William and the others.

"All mine, then. Wow. So, okay," I stutter. "I'll see you-" Avery slams the door, stopping short my words. "Tomorrow…"

* * *

><p>That night, with the wind howling and the rain falling with fury, I get to the dining area again with a candle to illuminate my way. The storm got stronger in just a few hours and it's incredibly dark, both outside and inside, but still, I need some information. I let the candle on the table and open the book.<p>

"Classifications: Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class." I start reading from that page. They are stained, and all of them have brief texts and colorless drawings depicting animatronics fighting employees and employees fighting animatronics. The pages I start reading contain information about the old models.

"Foxy. This reclusive animatronic hides in the darkest spots. When startled, Foxy tends to lunge, and is able to kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous; fight on sight." One of the pages has a full side view of Foxy, the other has a drawing of him biting and slashing a man. I feel a shiver as flip to the next page.

"Chica. This animatronic has a razor-sharp beak that can peck a man to the death. Extremely dangerous; fight on sight." Her pictures are like Foxy's: one shows a side view, the other a bloody drawing of her attacking someone. I flip yet another page, my words trembling as I read further. The animatronics are brutal, and I'm not going to deny it.

"Bonnie. Can attack anything too close to him with leaving you almost no chance to counterattack. Extremely dangerous; fight on sight." When I'm about to flip another page, a loud beam followed by a white light reflects the toy animatronic's shadows in the wall. I jump and, with a gasp, look at the show stage. No movement. I keep my eyes on the robots for a few seconds before returning to the book.

"Freddy. Hides in the darkness and once he spotted you an attack is unavoidable. Extremely dangerous; fight on sight." I start flipping to random pages.

"Toy Bonnie… The Mangle… Toy Chica… Toy Freddy… Golden Freddy… Extremely dangerous… Extremely dangerous… Fight on sight… Fight on sight… Fight on sight…" Finally, I spot the page I was looking for. But it's blank, and there's only a name and a brief description.

"The Puppet. Size: unknown, speed: unknown. The unholy offspring of lighting and Death itself._ Never_ fight this animatronic. Your only hope; hide and pray it doesn't find you."

I pull out my sketchbook, search for the page of the Puppet's drawing I made, and drop it on the book.

* * *

><p>"Hey, you know? I just happened to notice the book had nothing about the Puppet." I tell Nick the next day on the arena. Today it's set up like a maze, with wooden walls all over. Nick is outside the place, on the metal wires that cover it from above, watching our every movement. "Is there another book? Or a sequel? Maybe a… a little pamphlet-" right then, something runs past me, making me stumble to the side. We're fighting Toy Chica this time.<p>

"Today is all about _attack_!" Nick yells. As he says this, I look at front and see Toy Chica at the far end of the passage a couple of barriers are making. "Toy Chica is quick and light on her feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter!"

I try to run away but, from atop of the walls, Toy Chica seems to be following me all over, making almost deafening gurgles and warbles. I finally manage to get away from the beakless and eyeless chicken, who seems to be focusing on Billy now. He's walking slowly in an adjoining passage. He looks up, startled, finding Toy Chica over a wall behind him. Billy, with his characteristic high-pitched scream, runs away as the robotic chicken warbles loudly at him. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" he yells at Nick.

"Look for her blind-spot." Nick gives us the hint of the day. "Every animatronic has one." It's true, I noticed that. Every animatronic seems to have a blind-spot. For example, Toy Chica cannot see what's in front of her. As Nick tells us the instructions to find the blind-spot, the twins end up right in front of Toy Chica. She does not see them. "Find it, hide on it, and strike!" Nick yells. The twins try to remain silent and unmoving, but then, Jeanette has to ruin it.

"Ugh. Do you ever bathe?" she asks her brother, now keeping a distance.

"If you don't like it, then find your own blind-spot!" David argues back, pushing his sister away with his back.

"How about I give you one?" Jeanette starts shoving him. Of course, they're being idiots again. Toy Chica, hearing the hubbub, tilts her head to see perfectly the two bickering twins. She's now got a mad look on her face, I can notice, and it causes the brothers to run away as she gurgles angrily.

"Blind-spot? Yes. Deaf-spot? Not so much." Nick jokes with a chuckle. The guys run below him, but I stop.

"H- hey, so, how would one sneak up on the Puppet?" I ask.

"No one's ever seen it and lived to tell the tale, now _get in there_!"

His loud yell makes me back away. I've never heard him shout like that. "I know, I know, but hypothetically-" I try to continue when someone silences me with a nervous hush.

"Jeremy!" Avery whispers from behind me. "Get down!"

I see Toy Chica hopping down the wall, looking for a foe. Avery takes a couple of steady breaths before rolling past the animatronic. William follows. I try too, but I just remember I've never rolled past anything on purpose. The shield drags me back and Toy Chica notices me. I run away before she can attack. I manage to hide somewhere away from her, still watching Avery's doings.

She seems to be ready to attack, but William interferes. He shoves her behind him as he says reliantly, "Don't worry, babe, I got this." William throws his hammer at Toy Chica, but he misses in the most awkward way I've seen, as the hammer hits a wall various feet away from the animatronic. Toy Chica chuckles at William's clumsiness. And then he talks about me…

Avery gives him a 'seriously?' look before running away. "The sun was in my eyes Avery! What do you want me to do? Block out the sun? I could do that, I just don't have time right now!" William exclaims. He turns away from Toy Chica, but Avery doesn't. She turns abruptly, making the animatronic hit a wall and knock it over.

"It probably takes the daytime off." I look up at Nick again, the guys running past me. "Has anybody ever seen it… napping?"

"Jeremy!" Nick suddenly yells, like if he wasn't paying attention. I turn around. The walls are falling, Toy Chica is hissing and hoping from one to another and Avery is escaping.

"JEREMY!" she screams atop of her lungs as she jumps off the last wall and lands on top of me.

"Oh, love in the battlefield!" I hear David scoff.

Then, we both notice that Toy Chica is charging at us. Avery tries to grab her axe, stuck in my shield. I try to help her, mumbling things. In an instant Avery rips off both the shield and the axe from my hands as I wince in pain. She could have ripped off my arms too. Avery hits Toy Chica right in the face with an angry grunt. The shield shatters into pieces. Dazed, the defeated animatronic walks back to her enclosure.

Astrid faces me after observing the axe and the destroyed shield, anger and some kind of fear on her expression. "Is this some kind of a joke to you?" Then, the fear disappears, being replaced with more anger. "Our parents' war is about to become _ours_; figure out which said you're on". They all leave, and I start to think about the Puppet, once again.


	6. Chapter 6

Today started like any other day around. Black stormy clouds covering the sky. As there are clouds all over, it's actually cold out here. I got up early in the morning, and, I'm not going to lie, I don't want to go out. But I need to find out more things about the Puppet. It's all I care about now. Without anyone capable to see me, I hurry to the woods, then to the cove. I've brought a shield and my knife, just in case. No one knows what might happen. The Puppet did not attack me last time, but I'm sure I simply was out of reach. I hope not to use the weapons anyways. I'm planning on befriend that animatronic.

I'm walking slowly, crouched. The shield covering almost my whole body. I peek my head over it and look around with wide, careful eyes. The cove appears to be empty. But I doubt the Puppet left. It was completely unable to escape. I peek my hand over the shield, holding the knife. I throw it, making sure the Puppet wasn't going to attack by surprise. I look from left to right. Nothing. I now have a secure chance to walk in. I advance, slowly and carefully, when suddenly I can't walk further. The shield got stuck between the two large boulders. I try to dislodge it, but nothing. I think I just made it worse. I sigh as I crawl underneath the unmovable shield, try to pull it out from there. Still nothing. I look with a nervous grin at the cove. I still have to get in, protected or not. I have the knife anyways. But, of course, a shield is much better, like Nick said the first day on the arena.

I pick up the grounded knife with nervous fingers. There's no sound, not even birds singing. I try to make my steps low. As I walk around, I manage to hear the sound of little stones falling on the ground. My body stops smoothly, my widened eyes look ever so carefully to where the sound came from. I gasp as I jump back. The Puppet is over a boulder, observing each of my movements. I quickly but with dissimulation hide the knife under my coat, pretending to be unarmored. The Puppet comes down the huge rock, gets in front of me with a menacing look on its face, pupils shaped like slits. But it doesn't attack, just waits for me to do something.

I take a step back, the animatronic seems to be calmed for a second, but then it looks down and suddenly backs up, a menacing hiss coming from it. I start breathing rapidly, gasp, back away further. It must have seen the knife. I pull back my coat, revealing the blade. As I try to reach for it, I barely touch it when the Puppet backs up even more threateningly, the hiss becoming a loud hum of advertence. I gasp again, reach up for the blade, slowly this time. Holding it next to me, I let it fall.

The Puppet seems to not be satisfied yet. It examines the weapon, and flicks its head towards the water. Getting the warn, I pick up the knife with my boot and throw it to the lake, not even knowing if this is a good thing to do or not, as now I'm defenseless. The Puppet's eyes follow the weapon as it sinks on the clear water, then looks back at me. Those slits then become wide circles. The Puppet is not angry anymore, I can tell. But when I thought the reasons to be afraid of it for now were over, it starts advancing on me, an expression of curiosity staring at me, my ears meeting a low hiss. I back up, my arm extended.

"Ah, no no, no… I-" I manage to stutter. On my blind way I trip over a rock behind me and fall. I try to crawl away, but my back meets a rock. The Puppet stops just a very few feet away from me. "W- what do you want?" I ask, almost whispering. All of a sudden, the again slit shaped pupils turn round, and the Puppet rears up to then sit in front of me. I just stay there, exhaling in fear, but in confusion at the same time. It's not attacking. It's not aggressive. Now that my only weapon is gone, it might think I'm not a threat anymore. We keep staring at each other for various seconds. Without knowing what to do, my cheeks swell like I was about to chug as I put together my knees. The animatronic slightly tilts its head. I must think of something to tell it that I'm not an enemy and that it could trust me, but without words. So, I just give it a smile. Suddenly, the Puppet starts to get very interested on my action, as it looks with curious narrowed eyes at me. I keep the smile. The Puppet blinks twice, and starts to… try and imitate my action. Half of its face is already a smile. Then the other.

I guess it is male. If I'm really going to befriend it, it'll need a name. I'm not going to call it Puppet all the time. It smiles… Yes, Smiles. Great name for a killing machine, isn't it?

I slowly get up and get just a little bit close to Smiles. I realize I shouldn't have, at least not this early. Smiles' so funny face disappears and turns to a grimace as his pupils turn again into slits. But instead of attacking me on any ways, he goes away, towards the other part of the cove, as I watch, amused because of his incredibly not-hostile behavior. Even unarmored, none of the animatronics, old or toy, would have let me get that close. I follow Smiles carefully so he doesn't spot me; I just want to befriend him, but I don't want him to think I'm too desperate.

Smiles stays near the lake shore, watching his reflection in the water. A joyful chirping bird lands on a branch from a tree next to Smiles, who looks at the animal. The bird flies away, Smiles follows it with curiosity. When I'm close to him, he looks at me. This wasn't what I had in mind, but well, I have to take advantage of any chance I get. I lift up my hand, in a silenced 'hi there.' Smiles rolls his eyes in annoyance and turns his back to me. It's clear he has had enough persistent human for today. But my desire of befriending him takes over me. I take two short steps towards Smiles, and slowly extend my arm. In less than a second, the animatronic looks back at me. I quickly walk away, awkwardly trying to act like I wasn't doing anything. I soon hear Smiles hissing in annoyance and walking away. I better leave him alone for a while.

I've been here the whole day. It's a beautiful sight the one I have here, the sky bathing the cove in precious afternoon colors. Aside from the thoughts that had been running around my mind, I simply start drawing random lines in the mud with a small stick. Suddenly, it occurs to me that idea. I can draw Smiles. As I start the drawing, I hear footsteps right behind me. I know it's him, so I act like I didn't notice his presence and keep drawing, now working in the eyes. I hear a hum that sounds like a purr.

Smiles watches everything, every movement my hand makes. After a little while, he walks away. At first I give it no importance, but the sound of a tree branch being ripped off awakens my curiosity. I look over my shoulder, and see Smiles dragging a branch all over the ground. Straight lines, swirls, circles… Every kind of figure. I know he's definitely drawing something.

Wait.

He's drawing. An animatronic _drawing_. I think Smiles is most likely imitating me. Another new thing learnt; he tends to mimic things. Smiles stops as he looks at the ground, then at me, then back at the ground, making a dot this time. After this, he continues making random lines around me. As he passes next to me, the branch hits me in the back of my head, but I pay this no importance. I'm too amused. Smiles drops the branch and nods at his… creation? When I look around I just see scrabbles all over. But still it's amusing how he 'imitated' me. And now, if he imitated me, that means _this_ is _me_. I start walking around, taking a good look, when I hear a hiss. Smiles' pupils suddenly become slits again. I almost jump, and look down, seeing that I stepped on one of the lines of his 'drawing'. I lift my foot up, and Smiles stops his sudden anger with a smile, his pupils round again, making his happy hum-purr noise. Just to make sure that's the reason of why he got angry, I step again on the same line. Sure enough, he changes to the same expression. I lift up my foot and Smiles turns happy again. Not knowing why, I step on it again, but immediately stop, knowing that annoy Smiles that much could drive me into a problem. This time, I step over the line, and smile at him.

I start walking through the drawing, only looking at the ground to avoid stepping on any other lines. I wander awkwardly, almost dancing. My sight never leaves the ground. As I dance around the lines, I feel something behind me, and stop. Slowly, I turn around, seeing that Smiles is behind me, with that expectant look on his face. I get close to him a little, arm slightly extended. Smiles keeps backing up, hissing, but not going away. I finally have to show him that I trust him. And there's only one way to do that. I close my eyes and look away, as I carefully extend my hand, letting Smiles do whatever he wants with it.

After various eternal seconds, I feel something gently touching my palm. I look even more away, avoiding eye contact with Smiles now. I look up, seeing that he once again repeated my gesture. His hand touching mine, his eyes closed. Smiles opens his eyes and slightly backs up, looking at my hand and then at me, his pupils now round, but he seems to be frowning. However, this doesn't last for long, as he closes his eyes and shakes his head. When he opens them, the pupils are slits again. In a second, Smiles walks away. I don't even bother looking at him, I just focus on my palm. A million questions wander through my head right now.


	7. Chapter 7

"And within a second, it took my hand and tore it off!" Nick said to the class, awe on their expressions. We are atop of the towers, telling stories to each other. It's Nick's turn now, and he's telling us the tale I've heard thousands, if not millions of times: how he lost his hand and foot. All the class, Nick included, are eating chicken. I just roast a fish on a stick, thinking on my things and not paying attention at all. "And I saw the look on its face. I was an easy target. It must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another animatronic left me without my leg!" Nick points at his peg-leg, making all the boys except me and Avery let out amazed gasps.

"Isn't weird to think that a robot can do such damage to a person?" Billy asks, intrigued.

"I swear I'm so _angry _right now!" Andrew growls, looking furiously at his food. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand _and_ your beautiful foot! I'll defeat every animatronic I fight." he promises Nick, signaling at random points with his finger, eyes wide. "With my face." he adds, now sounding like an idiot. Oh, wait. He _always _sounds like an idiot.

"Mmmh, mmmh, mmmh, no." Nick denies, finishing some chicken he had on his mouth. "You have to knock them down. A downed animatronic is a defeated animatronic."

Suddenly, something comes across my mind like an arrow. Downed… defeated… Oh no. Everything makes sense now. Smiles is unable to get out of the cove and he's pretty much hurt. If someone gets to the cove- I don't even want to think of it. An idea appears then. I can distract everyone working here, and when I get some free time go to the cove and form a real bond with Smiles, and after that help him get out the cove. This will take me weeks, months even, but I want that animatronic to be free like it was before I messed up everything.

Nick stands up with a yawn. "Well, I'm off to bed. You should be too, tomorrow we get to the dangerous bots. Slowly, but surely making our way to Toy Freddy." Andrew and the twins smirk and look at each other after hearing this. "But, who will win the honor of fighting him?" Nick finishes, walking away.

"It's gonna be me!" David says reliantly. "It's my destiny, see?" he shows something to the class, but I don't see it (not that I wanted to) as I quietly walk towards my house, prepared to think about all the things I'm going to do tomorrow.

* * *

><p>It's morning already. Even though I couldn't sleep this night, I'm way too anxious to find Smiles again that I don't even care about it. I pick up a basket with a water bottle and a book, as I'm going to stay a while at the cove. Fortunately the training session starts late today, so I have some extra time. I hurry to the cove, and see Smiles staring at the water. I frown and stop. I wonder what he's looking at.<p>

"Hey buddy, what's it?" I ask him softly, placing the basket next to a boulder. Smiles looks at me, then back at the water. Whatever he found there must be really important. I look at the point where he's so focused on, and see something yellow floating underneath the surface. I slowly approach, and as I do so Smiles takes two steps back. I carefully grab what seems to be startling him, and comes out being a dead yellow eel with black stripes. I grab it by the tail, keeping a distance between it and me. I show it to Smiles, who makes a horrified hiss at it and backs away.

"No, no, no!" I yell as I toss the eel far away, Smiles watching it fall. "You don't like eels?" I ask him. He briefly shakes his head with an annoyed hum, clearly indicating a 'no'. "Yeah, I don't either."

I rub my hand against my coat, drying it from the water and the eel's disgusting touch. Not much time after, Smiles turns around and hops over a rock, where he peacefully stays. I haven't formed a secure friendship with him yet, so I better not bother him. It occurs me the idea of bringing the eel with me for tomorrow's training. I hope that all the animatronics hate eels, because that will really help me out. I pick it up and sit in front of the boulder where I placed the basket, leaning my back against it. I put the eel on the basket and pick up the book to start reading. I just want to forget about Animatronic Training for a while.

* * *

><p>"Today, is about teamwork!" Nick shouts as the door opens, spreading grey fog all over the arena. This is sure added to bother us and make this whole thing harder and a lot more dangerous. Today we are fighting against Mangle. We carry buckets full of water, but I don't know why. The fog soon spreads around, and we lose eyesight with each other. I'm now alone with Billy. "If an animatronic's head is wet, it cannot attack properly. Mangle is <em>extra <em>tricky. One head distracts you, the other head attacks. Your job is to find out which is which."

"Armored with razor-sharp, serrated teeth. Prefers ambush attack, biting its enemies-" Billy starts, thing that's actually scaring me.

"Could you please stop that?" I whisper tensely, making Billy slightly jump in surprise and immediately stop talking. From an unknown part of the ring, I hear Andrew's voice saying, "If that animatronic, shows either of its faces, I'm gonna- there!" I hear water splashing, and girl screams.

"It's us, idiots!" Jeanette says in annoyance.

"Wow, your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were an animatronic!" her brother teases, a short chuckle at the end.

"Not that there's anything wrong, with that figure-" I hear Andrew yelping, pretty much because either Avery or Jeanette just punched him. Soon after I hear a loud slam, followed by water falling to the ground and David's wincing. The fog clears out as this happens, letting me see David being dragged into the cloud of fog, screaming like a crybaby.

Jeanette advances forwards, but Avery puts her hand in front of her with a tense, "Wait!" As they look around, a metallic tail full of wires appears from the fog and trips both girls. David suddenly gets out the fog, running over his sister as he yells, "Oh, I am hurt! I am _very_ much hurt!"

Right in front of both Billy and me, Mangle's costumed head meanders from inside the fog, but I cannot see any other part of what's supposed to be its body. It looks directly at Billy, who, panicking, throws the water at it. Mangle responds with an angry gurgle.

"Oh, heh, wrong head…" Billy mutters quietly, only to get roared at. He runs away, now Mangle focusing on the only other target nearby. Me. The bare head appears too, sparks coming out of its mouth.

"Now Jeremy!" Nick shouts. I throw the water, but it falls not even a meter away from me.

"Oh, come on." I mutter. Will something ever go alright? Whenever I want to do something, only the contrary of what I was thinking of happens. Both of Mangle's heads gurgle and hiss. All of a sudden it crawls out of the fog, making me trip over.

"Jeremy!" Nick yells, running towards me in a hurry to save me once again. But it's not necessary. Right then I remember that I brought the eel with me, and Mangle must have spotted it. It starts to back up, either terrified or disgusted.

"Back! Back!" I shout, acting like the animatronic was afraid of me. I keep making it back up till it's again behind the door. "Don't make me tell you again. Yes, back in your cage. Now think about what you've done." Making sure no one notices, I grab the eel and throw it next to Mangle, who backs up against the wall, keeping as much distance between it and the eel as possible. I close the door and when I turn around, sprinkling my coat, everyone is staring at me, dumbfounded. Billy even lets his bucket fall in awe. "So… are we done? 'Cause I have some things I need to- yep, s- see you tomorrow!" I quickly mumble, getting out the arena, the class' eyes following me with pure surprise.

* * *

><p>The next day, back in the cove, I walk next to Smiles. But today, he seems to be in the playful mood. Smiles starts running from one side to the cove to another, with me far behind trying to reach out for him. Given a while of running, Smiles does a sharp turn as he nears the shore of the lake, making me fall into the water.<p>

Some time later, with my clothes still a bit wet, I continue the chase. Smiles makes me chase him at the borders of the cove, going through a cove-like passage that leads to a grassy field. Not noticing there was a small cliff, we both fall down it. I roll out of the tall grass, stunned, and it takes me a couple of seconds to hear a purring noise coming from behind me. I pull aside the bright grass, and frown as I see Smiles rolling on it, almost hypnotized by the touch of this herb. Bewildered, I take a handful of it. Who knows, maybe it will help me in Animatronic Training as much as the eel did.

* * *

><p>In the arena, we are fighting against Toy Bonnie again. I still look at the handful of grass I took yesterday. Pulling it down, I see the animatronic pushing away a too encouraged Andrew. Toy Bonnie directs me a mad glare before angrily charging towards me. It's now or never. Looking away with closed eyes, I extend my arm with the grass. Toy Bonnie suddenly stops, his pupils becoming bigger again. Fortunately this means he's happy. I rub his snout with this so special herb, and the at first aggressive animatronic is now a happy one in a complete state of bliss.<p>

I walk down the hill leading to the arena after the session, being questioned over and over again by the class surrounding me. Well, time to go to the cove. I need to think of an excuse. "Oh I left my axe back in the ring," I say lamely as I turn around, pretending to go to the arena. As I turn to run to the cove, Avery is right in front of me. I almost stumble on her, but fortunately I dodge her. By an inch. "You guys go ahead; I'll catch up with you!"

* * *

><p>As I stay peacefully with Smiles, watching the water shine, my hair is suddenly waved by a gentle breeze. Some tree leaves dance in the air. A couple of them land on my hair, another one lands on Smiles' shoulder. I rub my hair with both hands to take away the fallen leaves, but Smiles doesn't do anything. He just stares at the leave like if it was the first time he ever saw one. I giggle and pull it away, when I notice I must have reached some kind of special point, because as I do so Smiles' eyes open wide and falls down, again in a state of bliss and relaxation. I look at my hand, a smile growing in my face. Here's yet another thing I can use for the arena.<p>

* * *

><p>We are pit against Toy Chica, but this time without the walls. Avery tries to attack her with her axe, which she throws. The weapon goes spinning in the air, but Toy Chica reacts quickly and head butts it, throwing it away. After this, she charges at Avery, who runs away to both dodge the animatronic and pick back the axe. I wince as Toy Chica nears me, but she suddenly stops. I must be in the blind-spot. Avery's battle scream is heard then. I look at the direction where it came from, seeing her with a completely mad expression and her axe ready to strike. With no time to think twice, I proceed to scratch that special spot that seems to be below Toy Chica's chin. She gets Smiles' same reaction, falling to the ground blissfully, as Avery, with her axe still lifted up, stares at me dumbfounded.<p>

* * *

><p>On the dining area, I sit on the table I always sit on to be alone a while. But this time, the class and other employees surround me, asking me questions again. All but Avery, who hits her drink against the table. The reason of why she's angry is because I'm beating her in Animatronic Training, even though I don't really want that. She hates me enough already.<p>

* * *

><p>After a whole day being bombarded with questions, I go back to the cove. I picked up a light laser from my house to do something I want to test out. I hide behind a boulder and direct the red light at the ground. It doesn't take long for Smiles to focus completely on the moving dot. He tries and tries to catch it, just like a cat would do.<p>

* * *

><p>"Meet Balloon Boy." Nick says, as he opens the door. But this time, not the whole enormous door opens, only a small scuttle. Balloon Boy is the smallest animatronic, so I think this will be easy. I want to trick him with the light as well, the only problem I encountered is that we cannot use things we have at home. Fortunately my shield has a hole that reflects a white light, so it will work the same way.<p>

David laughs. "Ha! It's like the size of a-" For being a largemouth, Balloon Boy knocks him over with a high-pitched battle cry in anger.

"Ah! Get it off!" David yells as the animatronic child stretches his hair. It's something I would pay to be the whole day seeing, but he had enough for today. I use the shield trick again to draw the little robot away. I point the light at his cheek, and he immediately focuses on it.

"I am hurt! I am very much hurt!" David screams again, rolling on the floor. Meanwhile, Balloon Boy chases the light and gets back to the enclosure, which I close with my foot. "Wow, he's better than you ever were." David says to Avery while standing up and rubbing his hair. Avery gives him one of those death stares she's so good at giving.

* * *

><p>As I walk my way towards the cove, I hear furious grunts and something cutting through trees. Uh oh. I better hurry. Suddenly, I see Avery about to throw her axe. We stare at each other, our eyes wide in surprise. Dissimulating, I walk away in a hurry. Fortunately I know a shortcut that no one else knows, so that will be enough to mislead Avery.<p>

* * *

><p>At nighttime, Smiles and I sneak up around the restaurant's surroundings, attempting to go to the stall. I hide Smiles behind a cottage as an employee passes by and greets me. I wave at him, and after makings sure he's gone, I directs Smiles towards the stall. And why? Oh, simply because, while chasing Smiles <em>yet<em> again, one of his hidden strings got entangled with my arm. I enter the stall, quietly. I hear a crash, probably because Smiles knocked something over. I better hurry now.

"Jeremy?"

Avery's voice. Great. I burst out the window, the rope still attached to me, but I try to dissimulate it. It's not hard anyways. Smiles' strings are really, _really_ thin. "Avery, hey! Hi Avery, hi Avery, hi Avery!" I stutter awkwardly.

"I normally don't care what people do, but you're acting weird." She says, looking at me with suspicious eyes. To make things worse, Smiles pulls me back with the rope. "Well… weird-er…" Avery continues.

Then, Smiles lifts me up from the ground, then pulls me inside the window. Right before Avery could see us, we both sneak away. That was so close…


	8. Chapter 8

I've been the whole day being questioned by the class and some employees again. Maybe my new training skills are driving me into an attention problem. Well, I don't know. Ever since I started working at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, no one paid attention to me and I was the make-me-laugh that everyone hated. Now I'm the most popular person there. It's truly a great change, that feels good in part, but sometimes I just need to relax and get away from everyone.

Kinda far away from the lake zone of the cove, Smiles and I watch a precious sunset from a small, rocky zone full of trees and hills. If feels great here, where I'm peacefully, simply sitting on the ground and watching something I see when I get out the cottages around the restaurant, if I'm sleeping in one. Smiles is very interested on the sun slowly hiding in the horizon. I bet he has never seen a sunset. Or maybe he did, but who knows. He gets out at night, but at day, before I messed everything up, we had and still have no idea of where he goes.

As my eyes are focused on the sun, but not so much to avoid getting my vision temporally hurt, I hear some giggles. Familiar giggles. I look behind, see Balloon Boy running around. My first question is: how and when did he get there? Of course, I tend to forget that, at very rare intervals, the Toy animatronics roam out the restaurant, but never go too far away. Balloon Boy must of gotten out not long ago.

As the annoying animatronic he is, he starts running around Smiles and me, sometimes stopping to look at the sun with curiosity but not interest, and other times hopping from rock to rock. Smiles rolls his eyes, trying not to pay attention at Balloon Boy. He's just what I needed right now… Seemingly with nothing else to do apart from hinder us, the animatronic kid runs in circles around Smiles, still trying to – uselessly – focus on any other thing. He finally seems to be annoyed enough already, as he directs a menacing hiss at Balloon Boy, who immediately stops running around.

Even if he has a permanent smile on his face, I can tell he's trying to say 'sorry' with his eyes. He then walks next to me, sits there, watches the sun hide. I look at him with realization in my eyes. It's all clear, we've been wrong all this time. If animatronics were actual killing machines, they wouldn't appreciate being scratched below their chins or wouldn't like any other thing apart from causing havoc, yet they like garlic grass. And Smiles is a good example of our error; told to be the most dangerous animatronic, he's grateful, funny and intelligent. Not to mention that, even having tried to kill each other, he's now my best friend.

"Everything we know about you guys…" I mutter for myself, watching Balloon Boy as he draws random lines on the ground with a couple of sticks. "…is _wrong_."

* * *

><p>Back at home, I fiddle with my pencil, bored, without knowing what to do. I throw it forth with my finger, it rolls back, I throw it again, it rolls back again. The third time I throw it, it rolls to the other side, so I put it back in front of me and start over. All of a sudden, the door smashes against the wall when Raymond opens it.<p>

"Dad!" I yell in surprise for such sudden entrance. "You're back!" nervously but dissimulating, I try to hide all the papers and drawings of Smiles. The trouble I would be on if he discovered them… "Nick's not here, so…"

"I know. I came looking for you." Dad says severely. I see it on his eyes, that he's angry. And why this time? Who knows.

"Y- you did?"

"You've been keeping secrets…" Oh no. This isn't good. Has he secretly discovered Smiles? We never leave the cove, so what's with all this? My heart starts racing in nervousness.

"I, I- I have-?" I stutter.

"How long did you think you could hide it from me?"

"I- I don't know-" I don't know what he's talking about. And I'm not sure if I want to know it. Dad cuts me off, "_Nothing_happens on my restaurant without me hearing about it."

"Oh?"

Slowly, severely, he mutters, "So… Let's talk, about that animatronic."

I'm about to faint. He knows it. He discovered it. Oh man, how am I going to explain him that I befriended an animatronic? And the one no one's ever seen, at that! Whatever I say will not work, but I have to think of something. He can punish me or do what he thinks is necessary, but I'm not going to let him do anything to Smiles while I can stop it.

"Oh, Gods. Dad, I'm so sorry! I was going to tell you I just didn't know how to-" Suddenly, Raymond's laugh interrupts me. Why is he laughing? Is it funny for him that I became friends with the enemy or something? This isn't making much sense.

"You- you're not upset?" I ask, bewildered.

"What? I was hoping for this!" dad says, without stopping his laughter. Alright, now _this_is really strange. I don't know, I have the feeling that he doesn't actually know what I think he knows.

"Uh… you were?"

"And believe me! It only gets better! Just wait until you get involved in a real fight! What a feeling, you really had me going there, son!" Raymond smacks me on the shoulder proudly, which such force that it sends me against the wall. He's talking about my 'success' on the Animatronic Training arena, fortunately. Dad has this habit of talking with that angered voice when I do something good.

Which is _very_ rare, so I'm not used to it.

"All those years of the worst night guard Freddy Fazbear's Pizza has ever had... Oh, it was rough. I almost gave up on you! And all the while you were holding it on me, oh God!" Raymond sits down in a stool. "With you doing so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about." I just stand there, not knowing what to say. Dad pulls the stool closer to me. My mouth opens, I'm about to tell him the truth, but I better keep it for myself. Telling dad about Smiles is not going to work, even if he's happy right now. As soon as I say this, he'll be angry, he'll say that animatronics are the enemy and everything will end very wrong.

"Oh…" Raymond mutters, disappointed of my silence. "I- I brought you something. To keep you safe in the ring." he picks up a pendant with a grey string and a green, shiny rock attached on it from his pocket and hands it to me.

"Wow… thanks." is the only thing I'm able to say, as I touch the cold adornment. It's familiar, I don't know where I've seen it, if I have ever seen it.

"Your mother would have wanted you to have it." Dad says calmly. "Matching set." He pulls down a little his shirt, letting me see that he has a same collar on his neck. Of course, that's where I've seen it. "Keeps her close, you know? Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You've held up your end of the deal." he concludes.

After all this entire situation, I need to think of an excuse. Because I need to think about other things, about the next days in the arena. I fake a yawn, "I should really go to bed."

"Err, yes. Good! Okay! Good talk!" Dad starts awkwardly, standing up and backing away towards the door.

"Thanks for stopping by- And for the… uh…. Collar." I stutter.

"The pendant, well-" while walking backwards, Raymond's head hits the wooden ceiling. "Err, good night." he squeezes through the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Right now, I'm really worried about the arena. What if I win? It will only get me in trouble.


End file.
